The end of the world: I am linked to a mobile lottery store

Chapter 609 Who's behind this?

Soon, the group arrived at the pine forest. Unlike at night, the pine cones did not emit light.

At this moment, they looked like ordinary pine cones and pine trees, so Lu Li became curious again.

Do pine cones taste the same during the day and at night? Or are they the same variety?

The pine cones look very well-behaved now, hanging obediently on the branches, motionless, just like they're dead.

Unlike the agile, lively, and wandering pine cones at night.

"Hey, why aren't these pine cones moving?" Lu Li asked, looking around curiously.

Luo Mu also raised the question, "When did they start moving?"

"It's at night, and it even glows," Lu Li said matter-of-factly. "Haven't you guys seen one before?" Such an obvious Christmas tree, no one has ever seen one?

She suddenly realized that none of these people had mentioned anything about pine cones to her.
Given Luo Mu's big mouth, if he had seen it on the first day, he would probably have found out on his own the next day.

But no, nobody has ever said that.

Lu Li recalled that she seemed to have only discussed pine cones with the system.

That's not right either. I discussed it with Shen Bing and others when we first arrived at the Pinecone Base, but no one mentioned that it would glow.

It was only mentioned that it is edible and is a mutated pine tree that will not attack people.

Does it only glow at night?
To everyone's surprise, upon hearing her words, they exclaimed, "Huh? It glows? Really?"

Lu Li regretted not taking a picture, otherwise she would have thrown the photos in their faces, and they were all screaming in pain.

"Really." But she had no photos, so she had no evidence and could only nod helplessly.

No one doubted it, but since they had never seen it, they couldn't imagine it.

Shen Bing asked, "Could it only glow at night? Or can it only be seen at night?"

Lu Li thought the same thing, so she said, "Let's wait until tonight and see. Let's pick a few pine cones to eat now."

The cheerful tone was as if they were about to enjoy some rare and delicious food.

"Okay," the group replied.

Not far from the crowd, there are pine cones hanging on the branches, which can be picked with just a little tiptoe.

But they didn't pick many; just one for each person to taste. Luo Mu ate it in a few bites, smacked his lips a couple of times, and said, "It really does taste like jelly, huh?"

Lu Li rolled her eyes at him, "Would I lie to you?"

The texture is just like jelly, only without so many weird flavors, it's purely frozen and a bit icy.

Having eaten the pine cone, everyone's wish was fulfilled, but Lu Li also had some doubts.

On the way back, Lu Li asked the system, "Did you see those pine cones glowing and moving?"

System: [I saw it.] A very calm and serious tone.

Since the system saw it, it proves that there's nothing wrong with her eyes.

There's only one truth: those pine cones transform into a different form at night! Completely different from their daytime appearance!
Lu Li thinks that's how it is, otherwise there's no way to explain it.

The group parted ways in front of the RV, each returning to their respective shops to prepare for business.

It was only 11 a.m., still some time before lunch.

Today was uneventful, no big prizes were won, and the evening passed peacefully.

As soon as it got dark, Lu Li's gaze was fixed on the pine forest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the trees were still moving and glowing.

Surely this can't be just a misperception?
She asked the system, "Did you see that?"

[I see it.] The system observes the world most of the time through Lu Li's eyes, but in special circumstances, it will take a God's-eye view.

Lu Li was even more reassured; the system never made mistakes, and what it saw was absolutely true. So she sent a message in the group: "Everyone, take a look at that pine forest, how's it going?"

"Isn't it just like daytime?" Luo Mu replied quickly, also attaching a picture.

The picture shows that pine forest.

But unlike what Luli saw, the pine cones in the picture did not shine or move, just like the most ordinary pine tree.

Luli looked at the picture in disbelief, then at the pine forest in the distance.

Weird.

How come they are completely different?
Is it a ghost?
She looked at the picture again and then at the pine forest, going back and forth several times, with an expression of disbelief on her face.

She felt something was wrong, so she asked everyone in the group to take a picture of the pine forest.

Everyone was quite cooperative.

One photo after another was sent over.

Apart from the different angle and composition, everything else is similar to Luo Mu's picture.

It was still a pine forest, motionless and without light.

Lu Li rubbed her eyes. Could it be... that someone has a problem?

According to the majority and minority perspectives, the problem lies with herself, but she believes that the system and her own eyes cannot be wrong.

But Shen Bing and the others wouldn't lie to themselves.

No, no, does one of them always have to be at fault?
What if both sides are seeing the correct information?
Lu Li believed in herself, believed in the system, and believed in Shen Bing and the others.

That means there's something wrong with the pine forest! It's the pine forest that's causing this trouble!
But she still wanted to confirm, not wanting to wrongly accuse a good pine forest that only produced tasteless jelly and wouldn't attack humans.

She went to ask the customers who were buying scratch cards.

They are residents of the base, and they can see this pine forest whenever they go out, so they know a little about it.

"Are you familiar with that pine forest?" Lu Li asked directly, without beating around the bush.

Several customers who were focused on scratching lottery tickets suddenly heard the question, looked up with a slight confusion, and saw that it was Lu Li.

She placed her hands on the table, folded them over, and asked with a curious expression.

"A pine forest?"

"Yes, we're familiar with each other. We see them every day."

"That's right, he's seen the base chief more often than I have."

Lu Li thought to herself, "That makes things easier." She then asked, "Does the pine cone glow at night? And does it move around?"

Upon hearing this question, the customers were stunned, exchanged glances several times, and finally shook their heads hesitantly.

"You don't?" Lu Li couldn't help but raise her voice slightly.

Seeing Lu Li's surprised expression, the customers didn't know how to answer, but they didn't need to; Lu Li already knew the answer.

It's that pine forest that's causing all this trouble!
Could she be the only one who can see those strange sights?
That would be really creepy.

However, it seems that he has no intention of harming her; at least so far, he has not shown any intention to attack.

Why is it that only she can see it, and what does that mean? Everything is so strange.

Lu Li was a little confused, so she sat on the sofa and started to ponder it, not even noticing that Wang Yang and Chu Lisheng had come up.

"What are you thinking about? Why are you so serious?" Wang Yang sat down next to her and waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"Huh?" Lu Li snapped out of her reverie and gestured with her chin towards the pine forest. "I was thinking about them."

The two looked in the direction of her gaze.